Pictures

Old Town in Edinburgh



Edinburgh Castle



Queen's Bedroom on the Royal Yacht Britannia




Drawing Room on the Royal Yacht Britannia




Stirling Castle




Monument for William Wallace




Ceremony of the Haggis




Haggis




Drive along the Scottish Coast Line



The stone that makes curling rocks comes from this island




Our ferry

  


Inside the car, and bus hold on the ferry



Melissa's UK Adventure - Day 7

Today we were up early and on the way to the ferry heading to Ireland. The drive along the coast line of Scotland was amazing. It made me wish that I had rented a car and was driving it myself. All of the little fishing villages that were along the way looked so cute and I just wanted to stop and look in them all. Arriving at the port, we had only had about 10 minutes to wait until we could board. I have been on other ferries before, but this one was huge. I started to get off the coach and get on the ferry along with everybody else, only to be told that we were driving onto it. That was cool driving up the huge ramp and into the car hold. They really pack the cars and buses into a tight space. We then made our way up into the main part, and it was really nice. It had 2 restaurants, a coffee shop, a casino and lots of sitting areas. The ride took about 2.5 hours, but it went by really fast. The water was really calm which helped speed up the ride.


After arriving at the port in Ireland, we got back on the bus and drove off the ferry. We drove to the city of Belfast and had a quick drive around to see some sites. Belfast is an interesting city because of all the fighting that has been occurring there for years. At one point we drove by a section of the city that still has the "segregation walls" in tact. These were used to separate the catholics from the Protestants. Next we drove on to Dublin, were we will be staying for the next two nights. Upon arriving at the hotel, we had about 45 minutes to change and get ready for the evening. Tonite we are going to a traditional Irish dinner and cabaret. We drove 45 minutes outside of Dublin to the show. The show included a really good meal of soup,chicken, Irish apple pie and of course an Irish coffee. After dinner the show began with six dancers, and two singers showing us dances and singing songs that represent the Irish culture. After that, a comedian performed for about one hour. He was really funny and the whole show was really good and a must see.

Melissa's UK Adventure - Day 6

Today we started by driving from Glasgow, where we are staying, to Edinburgh. We have the whole day to explore this city. Edinburgh is Scotland's capital city, and right from the start I liked this city. It is broken up into two parts, the old Town and the New Town. In the old town the streets are very narrow and are all cobble stone, and in the new part, it looks like any other city. It makes for a fascinating and diverse place. We started by having a local guide hop on the bus and show us around. We drove around for about an hour, and saw sites such as the Royal Mile, Holyroodhouse and of course Edinburgh Castle. This was my first time seeing a castle and it was amazing. It was built on an extinct volcano and is situated high above the city. What a stunning site driving around the corner and it just appears. Unfortunately, we did not have time to tour it, but that just means that I will have to come back.


After the tour, we had time on our own or you could go on one of the optional tours. I went on the optional tour to visit The Royal Yacht Britannia. This is a Yacht that the Royal family has owned from 1953 to 1997. The Royal family has used it to sail all over the world, and most of the family has used it for their honeymoons. It is a self guided audio tour that takes about an hour and a half. It was quite neat to see the yacht up close and personal and walk in the same place that the Queen and Prince William have walked in. We got to walk around all parts and see everything. After the tour, we got about 2 hours back in Edinburgh to shop. We headed right for the souvenir shops and had a lot of fun.

Tonight is the excursion to Braveheart Country were we will be joining the Scots to celebrate and commemorate their hero and national poet Robert Burns. We started by driving about 45 minutes to the village of Sterling. We stopped at the castle for some photos and a little bit of history about William Wallace. We then drove to the King Robert Hotel for the rest of the evenings entertainment. We were greeted by a bagpiper who lead us into the hotel. The host for the night was Brian Gibson (no relation). He was dressed in his traditional kilt and all of it's accessories. We were all just sitting around talking and waiting for the evening to begin, when a gentleman came up to me and said that the piper would like to see me. Right away my heart started to beat fast and I thought "no thank you", but the piper was kinda cute and i thought what the hell. I was lead into the back room with 3 other people and we were told that we had been chosen to participate in the "Ceremony of the Haggis" With a coin toss, I was the lucky one who got to carry the haggis around the room. The piper gave me instructions and the ceremony began. So I pretty much had to follow the piper around the room carrying the haggis on a silver platter. Then we stood up at the front while Brian told the story of the haggis and did the ceremony. It was a lot of fun, and something I won't soon forget. The meal was good and also the haggis was good. We all had a little bit of it and I ate it all. After dinner, the piper came back in along with a Highland dancer and we had some entertainment. Brian then told us all about Robert Burns and read some of his poems. I have to say, I have never been one for poetry, but the way that Brian was acting it out was quite enjoyable. It made me want to read more from Robert Burns. Sadly the evening came to an end and we were back on the bus to Glasgow.

Tomorrow we have any early start because we are taking the ferry to Ireland.

Melissa's UK Adventure - Day 5

The day started off interesting this morning. Each day we have to have our luggage outside of our door by a certain time so the bus driver can collect them all and put them on the bus. Well this morning, Sharon and I were putting the luggage outside and the door slammed shut behind us. We both looked at each other and said "I don't have a key". So we had to go down stairs to the front desk, get another one and then finish packing up. Fun stuff at 6:30 this morning. On the first day of the tour, Andrew gave us a Bingo sheet and we were to go around and meet the people on the tour and write there names on the sheet. So this morning, he called out names and we played. Guess who won, me! I got a huge chart with all of the kings and Queens of England on it. It is pretty neat.


The plan for the day was to start off by driving through the Yorkshire Dales on the way to the Lake District. We left Leeds at around 8am and started along the interstate. Before long we left the busy road and made our way onto the small, windy country roads of the Yorkshire Dales. This so far has been one of my favorite parts of the tour. I love all of the scenery along these roads. We passed so many little quaint villages and farm land full of sheep, it makes me want to move here. The roads are so small that the bus can hardly get down them, makes for a slow drive and lots of time to take pictures. Unfortunately one of the bad things about these roads is it makes people very sick. Sharon is one of those people. So for the entire drive she had her eyes closed and was thinking happy thoughts.

We finally arrived at the Lake District and what a change in landscape. You just drive around one corner and out of no where Lake Windermere appears. We got to enjoy a private 2 hour cruise on the lake in an open top boat. It was cold out on the lake, but it was a very peaceful cruise. After the cruise, we got to stop in a little village called Grasmere for lunch. What a cute little place. It is the home of a famous poet called William Wordsworth. He lived here for 9 years with his wife until their death. You can see his home and also see his grave behind the church. Most of the tour groups stop here, so it is very busy on the main street. But if you go off the beaten path, you can see what this village would have looked like hundreds of years ago. I loved this place for photography. Around every corner was a photo.

After the lunch break, we got back onto the main highway and made our way to Scotland. We stopped at a little place called Gretna Greene, which is a town just over the border. We got out and walked around a bit, and looked in the shops for a while. Then we got back on the bus and continued on to Glasgow. We did a little bit of a drive around so we could see the city, and we stopped to take pictures of a church. Then we headed straight to the hotel for dinner. The hotel is not close to anything, so we have all just stayed in and had a couple of drinks. Tomorrow we are off to Edinburgh.
 

Some pictures from my trip



Our bus




Anne Hathaway's cottage




The group





Shakespheres House




Stratford-Upon-Avon




Again



The river Avon




York Minster




Street in the city of York




The "Shambles"




Stained glass inside the York Minster




The walls around the city of York




The Yorkshire Dales




Lake Wyndemere




Grassemere




Again



Melissa's UK Adventure - Day 4

The wake up call this morning was at 6:30am, but i was up and ready to go by 6am. i couldn't wait to get going. i love taking the coach tours. I just sit back and let somebody else handle all of the driving and organizing of the sites that we are going to see. We went down for breakfast at 7 and most of the group was already down in the lobby ready to go. I guess they are excited also.


After a quick continental breakfast, we boarded the coach and met our tour director Andrew Thomson, and the driver Tom (no last name, kinda like Madonna or Cher). We did role call to make sure we were all on the right tour, and we were off. The first stop for today was in Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birth place of William Shakespeare. He was born here, married here, raised his family here, wrote most of his plays here and died here. He actually was born and died on the same date, just different years. The drive was about 2 hours, so along the way Andrew was talking to us. We have Canadians, Americans, Australians, a couple from South Africa and a couple on their honeymoon from New Zealand. Quite a lot of diversity on this tour.


Arriving into Stratford, we got our first glimpse of what I imagined England to look like. Small little cottages with thatched roofs, narrow streets with children playing in them, it was very cool. The first sight was Anne Hathaway's house. Sharon said "I don't really like any of her movies, but I guess i will look at her house" Actually, Anne was the wife of William Shakespeare, not an actress. Just outside of her cottage, we took a group photo and then we had a couple of minutes to look around. Back on the bus we drove through the town and Andrew pointed out some of the sites. The bus dropped us off and we had 2 hours to explore on our own. We walked up a pedestrian street with shops and restaurants along both sides. It made me think of Harry Potter and the place were he went to buy his school books. On this street is Shakespeare's birth house. You can take guided tours for a fee, but we did not have enough time for that. So instead, we just touched the outside of the house and took some pictures. It is cool to think that that house has been around for such along time and I was touching it. For lunch we went to a traditional English shop and had Shepard's pie. It was very good. Before we knew it, time was up and we had to be back on the bus. Stratford is a awesome little village, and I highly recommend it.


The next stop was York, which is a medieval walled city that was built in AD71. We had an included tour and then some free time on our own. We started the tour walking along the old walls of the city, and then made our way down the main street to the York Minster. it is main church in the city and the largest medieval structure in the United Kingdom. next we want to the "shambles' which used to be were all the butchers had there shops with all of the dead animals just hanging in the streets. The street is so narrow, that you can lean out of your window and touch the neighbors across the lane. After that we had free time to explore all of the small , narrow, windy streets. There was lots of people and we almost got lost a couple of times. York is a very cool city, but way to many people for my liking.

We then drove onto Leeds were we are staying the night. No sightseeing here though, just supper and bed. Tomorrow we are heading to the lake district, which should be beautiful.
 
Hopefully I will have some pictures for tomorrow

Melissa's UK Adventure - Day 3

This morning we woke up and had to pack right away because we were moving hotels. The tour starts at the Jurys Inn which is about a 10 minute walk away. So with luggage in tow, we headed out at 8:30am. What I didn't know was that the hotel was a 10 minute walk but all up hill. At that moment, I was really wishing that I had not packed 47 pounds of stuff.


After getting to the hotel we checked in and went back down to the lobby to await every bodies arrival. Not much to talk about today because we sat in the lobby for a total of 5 hours. But everybody arrived safe and sound and have all checked in. Most of them are exhausted from the trip, so they are resting right now. Sharon and I are going to head to the pub and relax ourselves.

Tomorrow the tour officially starts. The wake up call is at 6:30am, breakfast is at 7am and then we leave at 7:30am. I am very excited and the whole group is raring to go.

I have included some pictures for your enjoyment, since you did not have a lot to read today. Hope you enjoy.


Pub



Fish and chips

Phone Booth

London Cab

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Inside the museum

Rosetta Stone

Woke up this morning feeling rested and ready to go exploring . First off we went down to the breakfast room to eat. With our room reservation it was included. It was not bad, eggs, sausage, and bacon along with pastries and cold cereal. The plan for the day was to go and visit the British Museum, and just walk around and see London on foot. With map in hand, we set off for the museum.



Sharon and I are not very good at reading maps, so we were walking slow and making sure to pay attention. At first we went in the wrong direction because we could not find any street names. Once we realized that they were all on the side of the buildings, we were fine. It was fun walking because we got to see everything close up. I think alot of people walk to work because the streets were packed. We also had to be careful when we were crossing the streets because with the cars driving on the wrong side, we were always looking the wrong way when trying to cross.











Rounding a corner, the museum came into view. In front were hugh black iron gates and beyond them was a hugh crowd of people. One of the reasons why I wanted to visit the museum was because I love them, but also it is free to visit. Well for this last reason, it is popular for tourists and big tour groups. We quickly passed them and made our way in. It was breath taking inside. It was the biggest museum that I ever seen. We had a quick look around, but I wanted to go to one area in preticular, Egypt. I have always been interested in Egypt and this was my first time seeing artifacts from there. It was cool and very interesting. We spent about another hour walking around this hugh place, seeing things like the Rosetta Stone and a statue from Easter Island. It was fun and hard to believe that it was all free.

After the museum, we walked back to our hotel. Along the way we passed so many pubs that we decided to stop in one and have a drink. We must have really looked like tourists, because right away the girl started to explain the differences between "ales" and "lagers" to us. We finally decided to have a "Becks" each and sat down to enjoy. It must be something about being in England and sitting in a pub, because I all of a sudden wanted fish & chips, which I don't like back home. It was really good and seems to taste better here. After another couple of beers, we stumbled back to the hotel.

Tonite we are not sure what we are going to do. Maybe head over to the theatre district to see a show, or maybe back to the pub for more beers. Tomorrow my group from Winnipeg all arrive for our Trafalgar tour. It is going to be fun with the whole group together.


Stay tuned.....

Melissa's UK Adventure - Day 1

The adventure has begun!!


When I woke up this morning and saw the forcast for Winnipeg, Thunder Bay and Toronto I thought great, rain for all 3 cities. But much to my delight, no rain for any of my flights. Last time I went to Europe, it was more like The Amazing Race then a holiday. My flight out of Toronto had mechanical issues and to make a long story short, we were late getting into Rome and almost missed our tour. This time I was not going to let that happen. I am leaving for London 3 days before, just in case. What do they say about lightning not striking twice in the same spot, well guess what, it does.

My first flight from Winnipeg to Toronto, with a stop in Thunder Bay, was with Westjet. What can I say, Westjet was awesome once again. Arrived into Toronto and we checked into Air Transat for our flight to London. This was my first time flying with Transat so I was looking forward to it. The flight was 40 minutes late because they were having trouble loading water on to the plane. I found this funny, but thought what ever, as long as I have something to drink I am fine. Finally the plane took off, and right off we could tell that something was wrong. We were not flying into the clouds, but staying close to the ground. After about 10 minutes the pilot announced that we would have to make an emergancy landing back in Toronto. They started coming around and telling us that we should get into the crash position because it was going to be a hard landing. I looked at Sharon and thought OMG not again. It turns out that a mechanic who was working on the front landing gear did not remove a pin, so the front wheel would not go in. We landed fine, and the whole plane broke out in cheers and clapping. They fixed the mistake, and after re fueling we were back in the air 2 hours late. The rest of the flight went fine. The staff on the plane were not the friendliest, but they were probably tired just like the rest of us.

Landed at the Gatwick airport at 12:15 pm, and made our way to customs. Well now that we were late coming in, the line up at customs was huge. We waited for over an hour and a half to get to the counter, only to have the agent ask us 2 questions and stamp our passports. By the time we got to the lugguage pick up area, our bags were off the carosel and on the floor.

We grabbed the luggage and went to find our transfer. I had booked the shared transfer before we left Canada to make it easier when we arrived. We found the transfer and us and 5 other people got in the van and we were off. The other people were staying at hotels in the centre of London, so they were being dropped off first. This was good because we got to see alot of the sites on the way. I knew that the Gatwick airport was far away, but i did not realize how far. It took 2.5 hours to get to the first hotel. After the long flight, this was not fun. But my first glimpse of England was awesome. It was everything that i expected and more. I got a quick view of the London Eye and Big Ben and found myself laughing like a little school girl. I can not believe that I am in London.

We got to our hotel, Travelodge Kings Cross, and were pleasently surprised. it is really nice and the staff have all been awesome. I think it has something to do with us being Canadian :) The room is small, but fine for us after the day that we have had. I had booked a London City tour for tomorrow, so I phoned to re confirm the pick up time. Wouldn't you know it, strike number 2, the tour had been cancelled due to the host being sick. So I have re booked the tour for June 19th and am keeping my fingers crossed.

Now we have to find something to do tomorrow. What can we do in London? Tune in tomorrow to find out...

P.S. I tried to include pictures, but strike number 3, it would not work. Maybe next time.